Halloween Decorations & Candy Chute

 I've mentioned before that our neighborhood goes all-out for Halloween. So it only stands to reason that I've been pondering the best way to socially-distance the festivities. I figure trick-or-treating is outdoors and everyone's wearing masks anyway, we'll just need to be sure to keep some space between us and the next folks.

So we built a candy chute. Since I'm cheap, we cut the bottoms out and duct-taped cardboard oats containers together, then used some leftover spray paint. I'm sure it would have been faster to buy a plastic tube! My mom and neighbor and some other friends contributed to the cause, but we had a lot of containers already in the closet just waiting for a project.

My colleague's daughter really wanted the stack to reach the ceiling - this is the point where I had to stop taping them together in advance, since I didn't want it to be squashed or played with too much before the holiday, and this was a good place to tuck the chute away. You'll notice another sign of the times in the repurposed wetbag we keep on the closet doorknob for our dirty masks as we come in the door.

Here's Leah "helping"
 

She was pretty offended that she didn't get a turn with the spray paint, but she liked looking through the tube & out the other end. Here are the kids with their pumpkins, the candy chute, and the rest of the decorations. Look - there was a rainbow!

 

Leah's trying out her costume in advance and James has on a grumpy face.

 

Last night was the first lighting of the jack-o-lanterns. We never carve super far in advance since the squirrels will just eat the faces off, but this was pretty last-minute. I also bought a bee costume from a woman on Facebook yesterday afternoon so I'll be set. One of my coworkers at the library is borrowing the banana costume since her son's going as a monkey.

 

And then here are some photos of the annual pumpkin-carving. James did his all by himself with just a little help from Sam in the scooping-out department.

 

Amelie picked out a design, traced it on, and cut all the hard parts out by herself. I helped with some of the fence posts just to speed the process along a little bit, since she was still out there working after everyone else was done and Sam had separated the seeds out to roast and we'd cleaned everything up. It turned out nicely!

 

Leah's contribution was mostly to pick out the pattern. She did also stick the carving tool in the back of the pumpkin and call it a tail.

 

Sam put the wooden frame together out of 2 x 2's after I suggested propping it up on one of our dining room chairs. We tested it out about a dozen times with the candy bars we bought, and they go down if you give them a bit of a throw. The skittles packages from Grandma Mary and Papaw got caught, however - I think they have more edges and less weight to propel them downwards.

The plan is to put the amp out again and play some spooky music. We'll see how it goes!

New Glasses

The kids missed a zoom class to go to their annual eye doctor's appointment. James was a fan of the fluffy dog. 

I told Amelie she looked like she was about to rob a bank. 

The doc said to hold off on James one more year, but that he'd likely get glasses next time. Amelie came back a week later to get her new glasses. She's also a fan of the doctor's very patient dog. I remember that Leah was scared of him for some reason last time (this was before we got Spark) but she couldn't come this time. 

I really like the way you can see more of her face with the bigger lenses. The old ones in the smaller kids size had definitely gotten too small. These are black on the top, with brown in the middle and greenish blue on the bottom and the inside of the frames (a big selling point). 

And Amelie with her pile of online schoolwork and new glasses and Leah with her plastic cat glasses - I think these may have come from the eye doc at some point. 

 

First Day of School (In Person)

 After almost 6 weeks of remote learning, the school board decided that the elementary kids could go back to school in person. I'm not sure why they made a big deal about the various levels for remote, hybrid, and in-person, since we're squarely in the middle of "hybrid" but they decided that elementary would go back 4 days per week and that middle school and high school would continue to learn remotely. 

So we had a strange mid-year "first day." 

The pictures aren't great since it's so dark in the morning and they have to be at school so early! I also have no idea why in-person starts at 7:40am and online (where they don't have to drive anywhere or even really get ready) starts at 8am. I was really hoping that a more reasonable start time would be something from the pandemic that would continue. 

The kids picked out their first-day outfits and their first-day masks. James's is Spider Man and Amelie's is a white cat face with a heart nose - she's planning on wearing it for Halloween, too. 

I think they were feeling emotional the night before - we had mini meltdowns about the necessity of a shower before the occasion of the return to school after 7 months (SEVEN MONTHS) and finding the school materials on the list to take back (that they've been using and had used earlier in the day!) 

Sam's driving them, as we were very strongly encouraged not to use the bus if possible. We were also told to only use the drop-off line instead of parking somewhere and walking them in - I'm not 100% on the reasoning there, but they don't have a crossing guard this year either. It's a bit of a mess. Here's the AM line of cars all the way down the street and waiting to turn in. 

And here's the PM pick-up line. It might not make sense unless you're familiar with Ridgeway, but they're stretched all the way around the playground blacktop in a U and then out into the parking lot.

They practiced wearing their masks during TV time in the couple of days leading up to in-person school. James ripped his off right after the 22 minute show and said "That was TERRIBLE!" which filled me with dread about the prospect of them returning and wearing masks basically all day, but I think they've been doing okay with it - I haven't had any bad reports from the kids or their teachers. 

My friend Stacie Pottinger is a photographer who has an exhibit up titled "Awful / Cute" with pictures of kids wearing masks - it's just brilliantly named because it is awful and they are cute. There's Spark in the bottom of the frame, making an appearance. He also did not have to wear a mask, like Leah who's snacking. 

First Day of School (Remote)

 The kids had their first day of school on September 8th - it was delayed two weeks to give the teachers time to plan since we had to start virtually. I was glad that they started on a Tuesday so I'd be home to facilitate. 

These are all photos from 7:50am on Monday the 8th - right before their first zoom lessons at 8:00am. 

Amelie with her iPad - she's in 5th grade with Ms. Williams - her last year at Ridgeway and her last year in elementary school. 

And James with his iPad. He's moved up to Unit B and is in second grade with Ms. Sirna. 

It wouldn't be the first day without a picture of them on the big rock. 

I took just a couple of pictures of them working throughout the day. Amelie worked at her desk for the first day. She did a great job of keeping track of her schedule and working independently. 

Leah was interested in the goings-on. 

James worked at the kitchen table. He was not as independent as I'd hoped, but it was interesting to listen in on the lessons. 

I think they all drew pictures according to the teacher's directions (coming from the class's input) and then showed what they came up with). 

There was a lot of getting-to-know-you, but I could already tell it was going to be more rigorous than the end of the year last year. It was nice being able to go outside several times throughout the day for recess. I made the big kids ride their bikes around the block, but I let them out of chores. 

Doctor Visit

James had his 8 year well-child check at the beginning of the month and I never made a post about it.

Usually, Leah would come with us to get her flu shot, but they don't want any extra siblings at the appointments now. I should have thought this through more in advance, since I bet they wouldn't have minded if she was coming in to also get a flu shot and it would have been easier for her than any of the other drive-up options. 

So, anyway, it was just me and James.

 Here are those vital stats: 

Height: 4 feet, 2.25 inches tall 46% 
Weight: 86 pounds  98%
Shots: 1

He was 100% a champ with the flu shot (which is normally the way he's acted! hopefully last year was just a fluke). 

Here are some things James is doing now that he's eight: 

• Moved out of a booster seat
• Rides his bike around the block by himself
• Loves to read, both chapter books and graphic novels
• Very interested in TV and movies, especially superheroes
• Writes and draws his own comics
• Loves jokes
• Helps with laundry and feeds the dog
• Big into bargaining and negotiating
• Cares about fashion and his clothes
• Tattles on his older sister at every opportunity
• Does best with a set routine

Here's a link to last year.